In "Rock Harbor Search and Rescue," a middle grade fiction novel based on Colleen Coble's bestselling Rock Harbor series for adults, kids will enjoy the mixture of pets, adventure, suspense, and a mystery.
Emily O'Reilly is obsessed with all things Search and Rescue. She volunteers with the team and goes on rescue missions with her stepmom. She is even selling homemade jewelry to save up for her own Search and Rescue puppy. But when an expensive necklace is stolen from a renowned jewelry artist at Rock Harbor's fall festival and Emily is accused of the crime, it looks like she'll never get her puppy and be able to join the Rock Harbor Search and Rescue team.
Emily isn't willing to give up on her Search and Rescue dreams that easily, and she sets out to find the real culprit and to restore her reputation. With a few suspects in mind, Emily is determined to uncover the truth, but she isn't prepared for the secrets she and the Search and Rescue dogs sniff out in the process. This exciting mystery is filled with twists and turns that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and have them pining after a Search and Rescue puppy of their own!
“I love boxing. I love Hallmark movies. I love fishing. I love scrapbooking. Nope, I've never fit into the boxes people have wanted to put me in.” ~Robin Caroll is definitely a contradiction, but one that beckons you to get to know her better.
Robin’s passion has always been to tell stories to entertain others and come alongside them on their faith journey—aspects Robin weaves into each of her published novels.
Best-selling author of more than twenty-seven novels, ROBIN CAROLL writes Southern stories of mystery and suspense, with a hint of romance to entertain readers. Her books have been recognized in several awards, including the Carol Award, HOLT Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, RT Reviewer’s Choice Award, and more.
When she isn’t writing, Robin spends quality time with her husband of twenty-eight-plus years, her three beautiful daughters and two handsome grandsons, and their character-filled pets at home.
Robin serves the writing community as Executive/Conference Director for ACFW.
Great cozy Christian Mystery for ages 12 on up! When thirteen year old Emily is wrongly accused of stealing an expensive necklace, she and her best friend, Olivia, set out to prove her innocence. Emily often goes with her stepmom, Naomi, on search and rescue missions with their dog, Charley. A Family friend, Bree, and her champion dog, Samson, also participates in searches. Emily longs to have one of Samson’s puppies for her own, but needs to convince her Dad of her honesty before he’ll allow her to have one. Wonderful story! *Does not contain any bad language, sex, or violence.
2.5 stars This book felt like reading something with holes cut in it. The author hinted within the novel at several exciting adventures that had happened in the main character’s life prior to this story. And, that’s all they were- hints. Only one “back story” was fully detailed, that explained this character’s fear of the ocean. There was mention in the author’s acknowledgements of her including people from her previous books in this one, so I guess I’d have to go back and read the others for “Search and Rescue” to make sense. One other thing that bothered me about this one. There were townspeople that had ties to the Ojibway tribe, and several times their tribal beliefs were mentioned. Some of the non-Ojibway citizens referred to the differences between the religions as “nonsense”, and even “evil”, because they differed from Christianity. I think this would be offensive to Native Americans who read this book. I wanted to give “Search and Rescue” a higher rating, but was not comfortable doing so.
“Emily O'Reilly is obsessed with all things Search and Rescue. She volunteers with the team and goes on rescue missions with her stepmom. She is even selling homemade jewelry to save up for her own Search and Rescue puppy. But when an expensive necklace is stolen from a renowned jewelry artist at Rock Harbor's fall festival and Emily is accused of the crime, it looks like she'll never get her puppy and be able to join the Rock Harbor Search and Rescue team. Emily isn't willing to give up on her Search and Rescue dreams that easily, and she sets out to find the real culprit and to restore her reputation. With a few suspects in mind, Emily is determined to uncover the truth, but she isn't prepared for the secrets she and the Search and Rescue dogs sniff out in the process. This exciting mystery is filled with twists and turns that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and have them pining after a Search and Rescue puppy of their own!”
Series: Book #1 of the “Rock Harbor Search and Rescue” series. Connected to the series “Rock Harbor” which is aimed for adults.
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, & talked about; Talks about God & His protection; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Brandon is vague on what he believes, but it seems like he believes in the Windigo as much as Emily believes in God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, pastors, & preaching; A few mentions of thanking God; A couple mentions of sins; *Note: Many mentions of an Ojibwa legend, the Windigo (Emily tries not to believe that it is real, but still gets freaked out); Mentions of a necklace that was “blessed” by a medicine man; Mentions of good vs evil; A couple mentions of supernatural things in a forest.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crummy’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘gosh’, a ‘oh my gummybears’, a ‘rats’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shut up’, and seven ‘stupid’s; A bit of sarcasm; Emily’s mom scares her ever since she tried to make Timmy sick on purpose (& mentions of it); A mean girl & her comments; Pain, Blood, & Freaking out (up to semi-detailed); All about mentions of thieves, stealing, & a stolen necklace; Mentions of criminals & attempted murder; Mentions of men who stole money; Mentions of prison; Mentions of almost drowning & remembering it (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of Emily’s mom who left their family; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of nightmares & monsters; Mentions of divorces & rough patches of marriages; Mentions of wondering/thinking if a dog was caught by predators; A few mentions of cancer; A couple mentions of breaking curfew; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of loan sharks; *Note: Mentions of the Windigo’s story & trying to kill it (up to semi-detailed); A few mentions of movies; A few mentions of vampires, werewolves, & zombies.
Sexual Content- A hug & hand touch (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of crushes, noticing, & cute boys; A few mentions of girlfriends/boyfriends; A few mentions of boy-craziness & a date; A couple mentions of couples kissing; *Note: Emily is embarrassed by her obvious curves & a few mentions that she hates that her chest is larger than all the other girls in her class; A few mentions of a bathing suit model; A couple mentions of plastic surgery; A mention of jealousy over a woman’s figure; A mention of someone butting into a conversation.
-Emily O’Reilly, age 13 P.O.V. of Emily 244 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Pre Teens- Three Stars New Teens- Four Stars Early High School Teens- Three Stars Older High School Teens- Three Stars My personal Rating- Three Stars A fun middle-grade mystery. I really enjoyed all the Search and Rescue parts and as a dog lover, those were my favorite parts. I haven’t read the Rock Harbor series, but I was able to follow along well. The Windigo story seemed silly to me, but I was happy with the ending.
This is an interesting middle-grade/YA mystery! I was really drawn to this book because of the search-and-rescue dogs. There aren't a lot of rescue scenes, since the plot mostly focuses on finding a jewelry thief, but the topic is featured enough to give a good glimpse into a rescue dog's typical duties. And I loved seeing Emily's passion to earn her own puppy to train for the same missions.
The mystery is also fun! Emily and her best friend do plenty of sleuthing and analyzing of suspects as they try to discover who swapped an expensive necklace. I did find it a bit frustrating that some of the adults didn't seem more interested in getting to the bottom of things, but I definitely enjoyed Emily's friendship/teamwork with Olivia in the mystery solving.
The Christian faith content is lighter - and discussions of an Ojibwa legend more prominent - than I remembered from my first read years ago. I do think I would've enjoyed it more had there been less references to the "blessed" necklace (see my content note for more details). But the farther I read, the more I saw characters pointing to a Christian faith message (with reminders to trust God for protection, etc.), so I'd still recommend this to early-YA Christians looking for mysteries to read.
*Content to note* Many mentions of Ojibwa (Native American) legend of a Windigo (described as forest "bogeyman"). Discussions of a necklace that was supposedly blessed by medicine man to ward off evil. Discussions of divorces/parent in prison. Brief mentions of child mistreatment/flashback to near-drowning incident (not graphic).
This was a fun middle grade novel, and even though I am older than the target audience I still really enjoyed it!
This was my first read by this author, but I am so intrigued by the town and characters in this book, that I am really itching to read her adult Rock Harbor series!
Even though Emily is several years younger than me, I found myself relating to her a lot!
I loved all the SAR dogs and it was fascinating to learn about K-9 search and rescue teams!
The mystery was cool and my guess of who took the necklace was actually right! But there were still several things that surprised me in this book!
Overall, Rock Harbor Search & Rescue was a fun, quick read that I highly recommend!
I really really enjoyed this book! this is the first book i have evere read by Colleen Coble and i really enjoyed it! if anyone is in t0 search and rescue books and some mystery i woud recommend this! One thing i din't really like about it is her Dad and Mom don't believe her and i feel like she put the parents down alot or made the parents look really mean. i don't know, if any of you have read this i woud love to hear your thoughts on this.
Rock Harbor Search and Rescue by Colleen Coble & Robin Caroll
4 STARS
Well one of the first things I learned their is surfing on the great lakes. The story drew me into caring for Emily right away. I was getting angry with her father not believing in her.
Good Plot,likeable characters,drama,action,suspense and good information about search and rescue. Makes me want to go and read more of Colleen Coble and Robin Caroll's work. This is aimed for middle school readers,but others would like it too. It is a clean read.
Emily is in middle school. She makes jewelry and wants to do search and rescue with her own dog when she gets older. Her father said if she earned 150$ he will get the rest of the money for her birthday. She has to prove she is responsible first. Emily has made a lot of jewelry that she hopes will sell at Fall festival.
Emily has helped out during the summer with training search and rescue dogs center. Her stepmother is a member of search and rescue with her dog Charlie. Sometimes Emily gets to go with her and help search.
A necklace at the booth next door to Emily's was stolen and a copy of it that Emily had made was switched in its place. Her father made Emily give her hard money to her because she was watching the book for her when it might have been taken.
Witness show up who heard that Emily was making the copy so she could steal it. Even her family does not believe in her. Students in school are mean to her. Emily feels she needs to solve the case if she is to have any chance to get her own search and rescue puppy. I was given this ebook to read and in exchange asked to give honest review of it by Netgalley.
publication: April 9th 2013 by Thomas Nelson Publishers 256 pages ISBN: 1400321069
Description below taken off of Netgalley.co,
In Rock Harbor Search and Rescue, a middle grade fiction novel based on Colleen Coble’s bestselling Rock Harbor series for adults, kids will enjoy the mixture of pets, adventure, suspense, and a mystery.
Emily O’Reilly is obsessed with all things Search and Rescue. She volunteers with the team and goes on rescue missions with her stepmom. She is even selling homemade jewelry to save up for her own Search and Rescue puppy. But when an expensive necklace is stolen from a renowned jewelry artist at Rock Harbor’s fall festival and Emily is accused of the crime, it looks like she’ll never get her puppy and be able to join the Rock Harbor Search and Rescue team.
Emily isn’t willing to give up on her Search and Rescue dreams that easily, and she sets out to find the real culprit and to restore her reputation. With a few suspects in mind, Emily is determined to uncover the truth, but she isn’t prepared for the secrets she and the Search and Rescue dogs sniff out in the process. This exciting mystery is filled with twists and turns that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and have them pining after a Search and Rescue puppy of their own!
Rock Harbor Search and Rescue By Colleen Coble and Robin Caroll
Rock Harbor is the destination of tourists and surfers and it is Emily O'Reilly's home. But when a valuable necklace is stolen at the Annual Fall Festival and it is replaced with a copy that Emily made Rock Harbor doesn't seem too friendly anymore.
Suspicion places its eyes firmly on Emily and hardly anyone believes her, including her own father! To make matters worse, her father insists that the money Emily earned at the festival be given to Mary Dancer! How can this be happening? The money she had earned towards the purchase of her Search and Rescue puppy was now gone.
Everyone at school is whispering and pointing fingers at her and her former friend Rachel Zinn outright accuses her of planning the theft and Gretchen Siller backs-up Rachel's story. With the support and help of her best friend Olivia, her younger brother Timmy, and his best friend Dave, Emily is determined to clear her name and solve the case.
Every lead they come up with proves useless. Why would anyone steal a necklace valued at $1000.00? Who could be that desperate and why replace it with the copy Emily had made? If they can come up with the answers to these questions they can solve the case and get back the money Emily had earned for her puppy before it is too late!
Rock Harbor Search and Rescue is an exciting page-turned that both pre-teens and young teens should love as they try to solve the case along with Emily and Olivia. Share in the excitement as Emily goes on search and rescue with her step-mother Naomi. And feel her pain at her father's lack of trust. This is definitely a book that you won't want to put down until you get to the end.
There are also little things that happen throughout the book that will you looking forward to the next one. Like what's going to happen with Emily and Timmy's mom? Will she cause problems? Can she help Brandon overcome his belief in the Windigo?
Have you ever had someone not believe you? Someone like a parent, grandparent, or a teacher? No matter what you said you just couldn't get them to realize that you had told them the truth? And even worse you had never given them cause in the past to doubt you now? If so you will feel Emily's pain at her father's lack of trust. And if you were punished for this thing you didn't do you will totally sympathize with Emily when her father takes away her chance at getting her search and rescue puppy.
I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review all opinions expressed are my own.
There were a lot of things I liked about this book, though, as in all things, some bits I didn't quite agree with.
It was neat to see in the world of search and rescue, something I've never given much thought of. It was very interesting, and seems like something that would be really fun, and fulfilling to be a part of.
I've never read Mrs. Coble's Rock Harbor series, so I wasn't familiar with the setting, or the characters. Even so, I found myself drawn into the story, caring about the characters, and trying to solve the mystery along with Emily.
Emily is a heroine girls can identify with. She's filled with complexity, fears, and blushes a lot. But even when she's afraid- happens several times throughout the novel- she comes through and remembers that God can take care of her, and her fear. She was very real.
I liked most of the other characters as well. Emily's younger brothers, Timmy and Matthew were just adorable as anything, Bree and Naomi were cool, but one character I just couldn't understand. It annoyed me that Emily's dad doubted her innocence at the beginning of the story, especially since she was a Christian, and he even said later she had never lied to him. It was that character, and another, the classic mean girl that aggravated me a bit. But I guess it all goes for good conflict in the story, eh?
In the end, Mrs. Coble and Mrs. Caroll wrapped the story up nicely. They gave this book a satisfactory conclusion, but left the door open for more adventures- and possible scares in the future. I don't know how much of the story both of these author's wrote, but they both did a great job. This story is written for younger readers, and I can tell that with the style of writing, but that doesn't mean us teens- and older folks- can't enjoy it as well.
I've read several of Colleen Coble's books, and I have to say she made the transition from adult to middle-grade quite smoothly.
I've read a lot of books by Colleen Coble (including her adult Rock Harbor series - she's one of my favorite authors) and also some of Robin Caroll's books, so I was really excited when I heard about Rock Harbor Search & Rescue!
The characters were nice and my favorites were Bree and the SAR dogs (yes, I count them as characters). I did get a little annoyed with Emily's dad when he seemed to immediately believe the worst about her and for the way he reacted when she asked their guests questions. I also didn't like when things in the story seemed to be repeated needlessly.
The mystery was good and, while I myself didn't have any concrete guesses, I loved how the reader could actually guess who was behind the theft. I really liked the whole aspect about Emily's mother in Rock Harbor Search & Rescue - it added a nice element to the book.
Overall, a good read. Even though I'm over the target age, I did still enjoy Rock Harbor Search & Rescue. I definitely think it's a great book (and recommend it) for young readers who enjoy mysteries - or anyone that likes middle grade novels. I look forward to reading the next book in this series, Lost and Found.
*I received a complimentary ARC copy of this book for my review. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*
The main character in this book, Emily O'Reilly is longing for a puppy of her own. When the Ms. Dancers Sapphire Beauty necklace goes missing all fingers point at Emily, since she was 'watching' Ms.Dancers jewelry booth. With the necklace missing, Emily doesn't get her puppy. To make matters worse many of the kids at her school, the sherif, and even her own parents think she stole the necklace. Emily has to find a way to prove herself innocent. I really enjoyed reading this book and I think many young teens will. I liked this book because it is suspenseful and the characters are good role models.
Colleen Coble pulls off a wonderful blend of mystery and intrigue, friendship and family in this suspenseful yet heartwarming middle-grade mystery novel. Recommended for teens and adults alike!
I received this book for free from the publisher at a conference several years ago. I paid too much.
This book is really awful. I have absolutely no formal training in literary criticism, but I now fully understand when other reviewers talking about good books showing, not telling. This book does not do this. I was ultimately hopeful that at least the underlying story would be worthwhile, but it wasn't.
So many issues: -Poor character development from start to finish. Even what seemed like a potentially realistic "girl drama" relationship between Emily and Rachel becomes totally absurd when the reason is given. - -Unrealistic reactions to everything. Especially the scene where Emily overhears Rachel and her dad. -For Christian fiction, some really horrible characters, with Emily's dad really being one of the worst. -Absurd back stories that aren't really developed -Random characters that show up for no reason at all other than to provide another potential suspect for the mystery
Let's throw in other things like modern middle-school students who don't seem to know anything about computers and who floss their teeth at school (Really?!), and an ending that you see coming from miles away. I can't believe I finished this.
(Also, the entire town is dysfunctional. How many people went missing in the couple weeks this book covered? Five? Six? I grew up in a small town next to a huge state park in a rural area and don't recall search and rescue teams being called out more than once or twice in decades. Totally contrived story line.)
Emily loves tagging along with her stepmom on search and rescue missions. When her parents agree to let her get a SAR dog if she can raise half the money, she sets up a booth at the local festival to sell her handmade jewelry. While watching the booth of another jewelry maker, an expensive piece goes missing. Everyone is suspicious of Emily and she and her best friend, Olivia, spend the entire book trying to figure out who took the necklace so she can clear her name.
There's a lot going on in this book, but most of it was either underdeveloped or ran into the ground. Most of the book is about Emily and her friend rehashing the same conversation over and over about who took the necklace. They do a little sleuthing, trying to eliminate suspects, but most of it is just talking about it. Then there's lots of little subplots thrown in that don't enhance the story much.
There's an Ojibwe windingo legend, kids randomly getting lost, a mean girl who is out to get Emily, a love interest, a surfing competition, and a mom in prison (which REALLY went nowhere). All of this made for a very loose plot. It needed some major tightening. The Christian aspect of the book is forced. Emily prays in her head several times, her stepmom talks occasionally about God, and at the very end Emily talks to her love interest about God, even quoting a psalm. That encounter felt the least genuine of all. It was way out of character, given that she had not behaved that way previously in the book.
The listing of this book as Christian fiction, is the reason I read it. All in all a disappointment.
In Rock Harbor Search and Rescue, a middle grade fiction novel based on Colleen Coble's bestselling Rock Harbor series for adults, kids will enjoy the mixture of pets, adventure, suspense, and a mystery. Emily O'Reilly is obsessed with all things Search and Rescue. She volunteers with the team and goes on rescue missions with her stepmom. She is even selling homemade jewelry to save up for her own Search and Rescue puppy. But when an expensive necklace is stolen from a renowned jewelry artist at Rock Harbo's fall festival and Emily is accused of the crime, it looks like she'll never get her puppy and be able to join the Rock Harbor Search and Rescue team. Emily isn't willing to give up on her Search and Rescue dreams that easily, and she sets out to find the real culprit and to restore her reputation. With a few suspects in mind, Emily is determined to uncover the truth, but she isn't prepared for the secrets she and the Search and Rescue dogs sniff out in the process. This exciting mystery is filled with twists and turns that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and have them pining after a Search and Rescue puppy of their own! A little mystery, a little intrigue, alot of rescue. Not the best i've read. 4 stars.
Being fascinated by SAR, I wanted to like this book. This is a middle grade book about a young teenage girl, Emily, whose mom is in jail and whose step mom does SAR. Emily is interested in SAR and makes handmade jewelry in an effort to earn money to pay for half of her own puppy. The mystery plot is interesting enough but not significantly well written. Emily is taught that God is the only thing she needs to protect her against all danger- Windigo legends included. Emily's preoccupation with her curves and her crushes majorly detracted from the story. In my opinion, it's overly sexualized for the intended audience.
Book 1 of the ROCK HARBOR SEARCH AND RESCUE Series, aimed at middle graders, and with a foundation in faith, is delightfully heartwarming as it approaches realistic life issues. Here Emily, age 13, is working diligently toward buying a Search-and-rescue puppy of her own, but is suddenly stymied when an unfounded accusation levied against her convinces her father and stepmother, the Sheriff, and most of her peers.
I loved revisiting the Rock Harbor family. This is a clean, great mystery book for young adults. It dealt with lying, friendships and middle school problems while also addressing communication, family, and truth. This is a clean, Christian (faith-based) book. Highly recommend for young readers!
How could anyone not give this story a five-star rating? I so love all these characters and what talents they share with research and rescue teams. It amazes me that people are so willing to chase after dogs no matter what the conditions of the land or the weather. Colleen Coble is an excellent storyteller. Thanks for another appreciate fan.
I'm in love with Rock Harbor and its inhabitants, and Colleen Coble always writes a great mystery. The teenager angle was a little overdone --just trying too hard to hit all the "typical teenager" benchmarks. It also felt like they couldn't quite settle on an age for the main character, as she was treated or acted either too young or too old for her age several times. The book didn't feel very cohesive.
Emily is 14 years old and very mature for her age. She wants to get one of her friends puppies and raise it to be a search and rescue dog. After a lot of events it looks as if this will not be happening. Read this book and see how Emily let God lead her in every situation,
I was disappointed in this book. In my opinion, we do not need more “but she’s the mean popular cheerleader with the boyfriend and jealous” stories for girls. We are looking for more complexity of characters and a deeper plot for our reading. The tracking/search and rescue avenue felt underdeveloped in favor of a focus on emotional outbursts from the lead character.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.